Every time I ask somebody about this writer, I always get mixed opinions - he's either shit poor or brilliant. I haven't really read any of his stuff so I can't have an opinion on his works, so I was wondering: what does NG think of Chuck Palahniuk, and what books would you suggest if you enjoy his works?

I did get Haunted for Christmas though due to a mass amount of suggestions given to me within a thread regarding disturbing literature I posted some time ago - I'll start reading that tomorrow.

I adore him.One of the greatest authors in a long time in my opinion.Id say get Rant.Its my favorite.Its an oral history about a fictional character who was responsible for spreading rabies across america.Its so good.

I think snuff is his worst book.To me it seemed he was just being filthy for the sake of it.I also think that its the least clever out of all of his books.The reason I think he's a great author is because of these really interesting ideas that he puts out.

I think snuff is his worst book.To me it seemed he was just being filthy for the sake of it.I also think that its the least clever out of all of his books.The reason I think he's a great author is because of these really interesting ideas that he puts out.

It wasn't clever, no, but I enjoyed it. Diary is next on my list, and I want to buy Pygmy, but I can't find a paperback copy in stores (I'm cheap).

Since somebody bumped this, I might as well reply to it: I'm still reading Haunted (slowly getting to the end - a bit caught up with coursework and other nuisances at the moment, to be fair...) but I have read of it, I really have enjoyed - the sattire of the absurd is truly brilliant.

What other books would you guys suggest I read/ I'm interested in Diary, Pygmy and Fight Club.

and to TheBigLemon: I've heard bad things about snuff, but I do enjoy a bit of rubbish here and there so I may give it a read.

All absolutely amazing books.
Fight Club and Choke are both great movies, and I'm very disappointed that there is no Haunted movie.

Haunted is probably my favorite book.
As far as "disturbing" goes, yes, the first chapter (Guts) was disturbing. It made my dick hurt a little bit and I had to put the book down for a while mid-chapter. But after the first chapter, there's not much that's going to make you cringe until a while through.
I think "The Nightmare Box" is probably the best story in Haunted, but Guts is pretty awesome as well.

At 7/25/10 05:54 AM, MonkeyV wrote:
Well I mean, have you not seen Fight Club, the movie?
If not then you should definitely read that ASAP.

Oh, I have seen the film, but I'm still interested in the book.

At 7/25/10 05:52 AM, MonkeyV wrote:
Haunted is probably my favorite book.
As far as "disturbing" goes, yes, the first chapter (Guts) was disturbing. It made my dick hurt a little bit and I had to put the book down for a while mid-chapter. But after the first chapter, there's not much that's going to make you cringe until a while through.
I think "The Nightmare Box" is probably the best story in Haunted, but Guts is pretty awesome as well.

I definitely agree. I was reading "Guts" while I was at my college's library and people were just concerned about me because the state it left me in. I have to agree also that The Nightmare Box, if not the best, is one of the best stories in Haunted. I love the whole Mrs. Clark saga in that book and I also enjoy the stories that Mr. Wittier shares. Definitely an interesting read.

I've read Fight Club and Haunted. To anyone really, I recommend both for various reasons, though they're not my favourite reads by any means.

I've talked about this before, in the Writing forum I think, but it's strange about 'Guts': I read it online first after I was linked to it on the BBS, by TheShrike I think, he made a thread about it. I was already slightly aware of it, and yeah, it did disturb me somewhat, but I could take it quite easily. When I came to re-read it when I had Haunted in my hands, it made me physically uncomfortable. It wasn't the section that he names the most disturbing in the afterword (the line about the vitamin tablet), but rather it was the bit with the hardened candle wax, and the description of the hospital. I really didn't understand why that happened - I bring it up now and then when people begin the e-books vs. books argument, because I think that might've been a factor.

I like 'The Nightmare Box' too, and Mr. Whittier's (first?) one, though I think my favourite might be the foot massage mafia one, because it's hilarious and it's tasty satire. And I think it's the second story in there, so it's a welcome break after 'Guts', though I agree with most fans in that 'Guts' is merely the most flashy and notorious - most people I've spoken to name the mountain lodge one as the most disturbing.

Someone mentioned turning Haunted into a film. It could always happen I suppose, but I think it's written deliberately snidely in order to make that process harder. In the afterword to my copy of Fight Club, he pretty much criticises a certain Mr. Fincher, Mr. Pitt and Mr. Norton and the process in general. I prefer the book of Fight Club to the film believe it or not-

dodges projectiles

- I just think it does a better job of pointing out the irony of the themes. The film, as expected because it's a big-budget Hollywood film, is too stylised for that in some areas, which isn't a bad thing or anything, but yeah. It's just a constant issue when you're making a film like that. You'll hate me for making the comparison, but it's somewhat like how just about every adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde somewhat ignore the possible fundamentals behind the imagery in the original novella.

Maybe I'm wrong for connecting it like that. It just seemed like he was getting a lot of yucks out of it all to me. It made for some of the more enjoyable moments in the 'main' story.